NEWS
FOOD
UC SHIP Update
UCSF students should expect changes to health benefits and caps » PAGE 3
IN THIS ISSUE
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The UCSF Student Newspaper
Thursday, April 4, 2013
synapse.ucsf.edu
OPINION
NEWS
Why You Should Vote Yes on Proposed Fee Increase By Doug Jacobs President, ASUC
I
n just a couple short weeks, students will have the opportunity to vote on a fee referendum. I would like to take the opportunity to give my honest opinion why it is crucial for students to vote in this referendum. Simply put, if the fee referendum fails to pass, 25 percent of the funding for current Registered Clubs and Organizations (RCOs) will be cut, in addition to funding for ASUC and school governments. As such, the question of whether or not to support this fee increase becomes contingent upon our views of RCOs and student governments at UCSF. RCOs represent the diversity of student interests, and range from educational, social, cultural, artistic, recreational, community service and spiritual clubs. Students organize into RCOs to have an experience that isn’t offered in formal curricular environment at the school. Feel like there isn’t enough childhood access to care? Join Children’s Health Hut, an RCO committed to improving the health of children. Want to learn more about the values of the Iranian culture in the UCSF community? Join the Iranian Cultural Organization. Want to meet with other students to discuss pertinent health policy issues? Join the Interprofessional Action Council. In essence, RCOs afford students the flexibility to shape their own student experience during their time at UCSF. Because they add so much to students’ lives here, it becomes necessary to support RCOs financially as well. This ASUC fee referendum maintains that crucial financial
Volume 57, Number 25
OCPD Helps Grad Students Explore Career Options By Angela Castanieto Staff Writer
B support. Those burritos you ate at that lunchtime meeting? They came from these ASUC funds. That health fair where you taught children about oral hygiene? Some of your supplies came from ASUC funds. That wonderful school play? ASUC funds. The Annual UCSF Formal? Yep, you guessed it: ASUC funds. The ASUC in its own right is important for the student experience, as well. We represent student interests with the administration. One of the main reasons current students are retaining their student housing beyond two years is because of the efforts of the ASUC. We help fund the school governments of Dental, Medicine and Pharmacy, allowing school
REFERENDUM » PAGE 5
iomedical research education has traditionally focused on preparing trainees for careers in academia. However, recent UCSF events — such as the Forum on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Biomedical Workforce Reports and informal brown-bag lunch discussions — have raised awareness of the need for graduate programs to expose students to additional career paths. What does this mean for those at UCSF who are considering careers outside academia? While institutional reforms are still in the discussion phase at a national level, UCSF appears to be ahead of the curve when it comes to making resources available for students and postdocs to explore and prepare for jobs in the biomedical workforce. The Office of Career and Professional Development (OCPD) offers career services in the life sciences. In addition to receiving individual
Photo courtesy of OCPD
OCPD Director Bill Lindstaedt
counseling, students can attend seminars to learn about different career paths, including how to identify skills they are missing and how to strategize their job searches. OCPD also runs the Graduate Student Internships for Career Exploration (GSICE), a unique career
CAREER OPTIONS » PAGE 3
NEWS
UCSF Students Talk Disaster Preparedness in Chinatown By Linda Chen Staff Writer
O
n the first Sunday of their spring break, a group of pharmacy students threaded their way through throngs of people in the streets of San Francisco’s Chinatown to reach the YMCA. Alongside high school Cantonese translators, UCSF students presented the topics of “Bleach and Waste Management” and “Duct Tape and Garbage Bags” before an audience of Chinatown single room occupancy (SRO) residents. It was the third in a series of five disaster preparedness workshops
DISASTER PREPAREDNESS » PAGE 5
Photo by Linda Chen/P1
UCSF pharmacy students Simon Diep and Kathy Cheung presented “Bleach and Waste Management” to SRO residents at the Chinatown YMCA on March 24.